FUSION ILLUSION

THIS is what they get together on?

International Nuclear-Fusion Research Pact Signed in Paris
November 21, 2006 (AP via Fox News)
- Nations representing half the world's population signed a long-awaited, $12.8 billion pact Tuesday for a nuclear fusion reactor that could revolutionize global energy use for future generations.

- The ITER project by the United States, the European Union, China, India, Russia, Japan and South Korea will attempt to combat global warming by harnessing the fusion that runs the sun, creating an alternative to polluting fossil fuels.
- But the project is still only experimental and will take decades to get going — and environmental groups say it may not even work.
- French President Jacques Chirac, who hosted the signing at the Elysee Palace in Paris, praised the attempt to "tame solar fire to meet the challenge of ecological energy…"
- Raymond Orbach of the U.S. Department of Energy said, "This energy represents the hope of the world."…
- The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor will be built in Cadarache in the southern French region of Provence, near Marseille…about 10,000 jobs…about eight years to build…Some 400 scientists from around the world…a demonstration power plant in Cadarache around 2040. If it works…10 percent to 20 percent of the world's energy could come from fusion by the end of the century.

- The EU will pay 50 percent of the cost to build the experimental reactor, with the six other parties contributing 10 percent each.
- Fusion, which powers the sun and other stars, involves confining hydrogen at extreme temperature and pressure…At…180 million degrees, the gas undergoes nuclear fusion, releasing energy that can be harnessed to generate electricity…one quart of sea water would be able to generate energy equivalent to a quart of oil or two pounds of coal…
- French anti-nuclear group Sortir du Nucleaire…warned that the project will still produce radioactive waste, though less than conventional nuclear reactors.
- Environmental activists, who generally oppose nuclear power, have argued that the project is too costly and would divert attention from current efforts to fight global warming.

Ya think?

Wikipedia on Nuclear Fusion:
- Fusion power refers to power generated by nuclear fusion reactions. In this kind of reaction, two light atomic nuclei fuse together to form a heavier nucleus and release energy. The largest current experiment, JET, has resulted in fusion power production slightly less than the power put into the plasma, maintaining an output of 16 MW for a few seconds. In June 2005, the construction of the experimental reactor ITER, designed to produce several times more fusion power than the power into the plasma over many minutes, was announced. The production of net electrical power from fusion is planned for the next generation experiment after ITER...
- The likelihood of a catastrophic accident in a fusion reactor in which injury or loss of life occurs is much smaller than that of a fission reactor...In general terms, fusion reactors would create far less radioactive material than a fission reactor, the material it would create less damaging biologically, and the activity "burn off" within a time period that is well within existing engineering capabilities.
- It is far from clear whether or not nuclear fusion will be economically competitive with other forms of power...The low estimates for fusion appear to be competitive with but not drastically lower than other alternatives. The high estimates are several times higher...vast sums have been and continue to be invested in research...

- An important aspect of fusion energy in contrast to many other energy sources is that the cost of production is elastic. The cost of wind energy, for example, goes up as the optimal locations are developed first, while further generators must be sited in less ideal conditions. With fusion energy, the production cost will not increase much, even if large numbers of plants are built. It has been suggested that even 100 times the current energy consumption of the world is possible...
- Fusion power has many of the benefits of long-term renewable energy sources (such as sustainable energy supply and no greenhouse gas emissions) as well as some of the benefits of such relatively finite energy sources as hydrocarbons and nuclear fission (without reprocessing)...